Share Rally

Share

We all made it safely to Duisburg Germany. On April 17th we begin competitions at World Champtionships. I completed my classificatio for my competition class today and am looking forward to competitions. I am still raising money and am just so honored to be here and be a part of Team USA. It has been an amazing experience so far and I am looking foreard to race day.

It's Official!! On April 30th, 2016 I made the US Natinoal Paracanoe (Canoe/Kayak) Team. On May 12th, 2016 I will travel to Duisburg, Germany to represent the United States at World Championships, which is the qualifier for the 2016 Paralympic Games. There is no funding to support US at World Championships and athletes must fundraise to cover costs. So far, I have raised $1,160 of the $2,500 to cover the remaining costs of housing, travel and expenses.

I would not have made it this far without the help of boosters, supporters and it means everything to me to represent the United States and make you all proud.

GO Team USA!!

My name is Brandon Holiday, I’ve been an athlete my whole life, playing various sports, tennis, baseball and training in martial arts. I attended a division 1 school where I was awarded a partial athletic scholarship to play tennis and competed for two years in the Ranger Challenges. After college I became a police officer and due to an injury in the line of duty and medical complications from Systemic Lupus I was unable to continue as a police officer and began to adjust my life because of the changing symptoms of my disease. If you don’t know what Lupus is, it is an autoimmune disease where the body attacks itself and causes symptoms like chronic fatigue, pleurisy, high fevers, restlessness, and loss of kidney function. As a person living with Systemic Lupus, Primary Addison’s, and a blood clotting condition called Antiphosolipid Syndrome.

2006 was another life changing event. After four months in the hospital battling with blood clots, wound care and hyperbaric chamber treatments, doctors had to amputate my left leg below the knee. Uncertain if I would ever be able to play sports again or if I would have more issues with blood clots, I began physical therapy. The issue with the challenges I have faced with my injuries and disease has been that when I have reached out for help to cope; I didn’t get the help from the medical professionals, who came into my hospital bedroom, they just gave me a five minute written test and mental health diagnosis of being a manic depressed person. I don’t know anyone that would not have some depression after spending months in a hospital in severe pain, watching a part of their body waste away. It was up to me to do the research and look for other alternatives to help myself face this loss, life changing event. The system wasn’t going to help patients mentally and physically heal, so I contacted Challenged Athletes Foundation who awarded me a grant to travel and attend the Extremity Games.

From that moment on I knew that there had to be more than just accepting you’re depressed and here is some medicine to help. I began physical therapy, rebuilding my life, and Ten months later I attended the Extremity Games. Extremity Games is an extreme sports event for people with amputations and/or spinal cord injuries, hosted by Athletes with Disabilities Network. It was there that I met other challenged athletes and was able see people with disabilities surf, rock climb, wakeboard and ride motocross. I realized then that I can do anything, do what these other athletes were doing. I was empowered by these athletes and felt like I was regaining that competitive nature I had before.

In total, I have had 10 heart attacks, pleurisy, stasis wounds to my legs, skin grafts, mini pulmonary emboli’s and other medical issues caused by the lupus. I have had a life of constant changes and my disease is a daily adjustment because each day is never the same with the amount of energy, pain, fatigue that I may have to deal with. From all these experiences I have learned that it’s easy to take a negative situation and look at it the wrong way. I refused to let that happen since that time and use those emotions and energy to train, learn what supplements and medication works to help myself stay healthy, and make a difference.

As an athlete I know that I may not be the most talented and have the opportunities of others, but no one will out heart me, no one will out work me, not today, next week or next year. What I lack in talent I make up for in determination and will. I will always be in the fight and take what you perceive as a limitation and change it to limitless possibilities by adapting.

Since 2007, I have won bronze medal in mix martial arts competing in a pancrease competition, silver medal in recreational kayaking and paddled my kayak into five gold medals at the United States Sprint National Championships, becoming the 2014 and 2015 K1, Paracanoe men’s 200m & 500m United States Paracanoe Sprint Kayak Champion and the 2014 Master’s 35+ Able Bodied 500m Champion.

Over the past 9 years I have been working with other disabled community members, veterans through adaptive sports and mentoring outreach. I see the smiles and light in their eyes as they try and succeed at the adaptive clinics. Being able to see the changes in attitude and focus of the people whose lives we impact through sports and outreach helps me heal mentally and physically. The power of sport has changed my life for the better.

Now when I get frustrated, have a bad day, week, a flare I look to my inspirations, the community I serve, fellow athletes I train with, this country I want to represent as an athlete.My disease does not stop me from striving towards my dream of making the US National Team and competing for a spot on the Paralympic team. I am very proud to have the chance to represent the United States, but limited funding, medical expenses and insurance costs, do however make it difficult to afford the necessary training, coaching, equipment, travel, lodging, registration costs. Any assistance in achieving my goals is greatly appreciated and 100% tax deductible. If you would like to make an online donation click on Donate and follow the instructions.

Follow

With RallyMe, powered by SportsEngine, you can easily raise money for any sport endeavor or cause with best in class online fundraising software. From fundraising websites and donation tracking to donor and database management, RallyMe has you covered to raise the most money.